He cared for her through the years of her illness, until her death, after 50 years of marriage, in July, 2008.Lee met Phyllis Coon in a high school math class, and in 1958 they were married. Lee and Phyllis were a powerful force working together through the years, in their family and their many contributions to their community, no matter where the military or life sent them.They maintained decades-long relationships with many people, who remained dear to them throughout their lives together.Rex met her the day she was born, and would marry her 19 years later in 1944. At the end of World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps as a radio operator on a B-29. He was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.He served with Edith in the New Jersey, Morristown Mission and in the Idaho Falls Temple, and he served as Patriarch in the Blackfoot Idaho South Stake.

While he was in the military, Lee pursued a college education between deployments, and in 1980, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Old Dominion University in Virginia.